UFC 259: Blachowicz vs. Adesanya Full Card Preview
If you aren’t excited for this card, how did you even stumble upon this post? UFC 259 is stacked from top to bottom — former champ Dominick Cruz is fighting on the prelims, for heaven’s sake!
The 15-fight card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas is topped with three title fights, most notably the main event between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya for the light heavyweight title. Amanda Nunes defenders her featherweight belt against Megan Anderson in the co-main event. Aljamain Sterling challenges Petr Yan for the bantamweight title. Also on the pay-per-view card, which starts at 10 p.m. ET, is Thiago Santos and Aleksandar Rakic, and Islam Makhachev and Drew Dober. The preliminary card starts at 6 p.m. ET with six fights on Fight Pass, before moving to four fights on ESPN.
Follow along Saturday with Question Mark Kicks, which goes live on YouTube two hours before the start of the fight card, and the Fight Companion, when Matt and Craig go live on YouTube for the main card.
Bantamweight
Trevin Jones (+191)
Record: 12-6, 1 NC (1 NC UFC) |Age: 30
Height: 5-7 | Reach: 70″
Wins: 2 KO, 4 SUB | Losses: 1 SUB
Recent fights: NC with Timur Valiev (won by R2 TKO); def. Takafumi Otsuka (R2 RNC); def. Mehdi Baidulaev (R1 choke)
Mario Bautista (-238)
Record: 8-1 (2-1 UFC) |Age: 27
Height: 5-9 | Reach: 69″
Wins: 3 KO, 3 SUB | Losses: 1 SUB
Recent fights: def. Miles Johns (R2 TKO); def. Jin Soo Son (un. dec.); L to Cory Sandhagen (R1 armbar)
Lightweight
Uros Medic (-171)
Record: 6-0 (UFC debut) |Age: 27
Height: 6-1 | Reach: 71″
Wins: 4 KO, 2 SUB | Losses: n/a
Recent fights: def. Mikey Gonzalez (R1 TKO); def. Alonzo Leisholmn Jr. (R1 TKO); def. Jason Flowers (R1 triangle)
Aalon Cruz (+141)
Record: 8-3 (0-1 UFC) |Age: 31
Height: 6-0 | Reach: 78″
Wins: 2 KO, 2 SUB | Losses: 1 KO, 2 SUB
Recent fights: L to Spyke Carlyle (R1 TKO); def. Steven Nguyen (R3 KO); def. Gui Cury (un. dec.)
Women’s Strawweight
Livinha Souza (+179)
Record: 14-2 (3-1 UFC) |Age: 29
Height: 5-3 | Reach: 63″
Wins: 2 KO, 8 SUB | Losses: 2 DEC
Recent fights: def. Ashley Yoder (un. dec.); L to Brianna Van Buren (un. dec.); def. Sarah Frota (split dec.)
Amanda Lemos (-224)
Record: 8-1-1 (2-1 UFC) |Age: 33
Height: 5-4 | Reach: 65″
Wins: 5 KO, 2 SUB | Losses: 1 KO
Recent fights: def. Mizuki Inoue (un. dec.); def. Miranda Granger (R1 RNC); L to Leslie Smith (R2 TKO)
Welterweight
Sean Brady (-214)
Record: 13-0 (3-0 UFC) |Age: 28
Height: 5-10 | Reach: 72.5″
Wins: 3 KO, 3 SUB | Losses: n/a
Recent fights: def. Christian Aguilera (R2 guillotine); def. Ismail Naurdiev (un. dec.); def. Court McGee (un. dec.)
Jake Matthews (+173)
Record: 17-4 (10-4 UFC) |Age: 26
Height: 5-10| Reach: 72″
Wins: 4 KO, 6 SUB | Losses: 1 KO, 2 SUB
Recent fights: def. Diego Sanchez (un. dec.); def. Emil Weber Meek (un. dec.); def. Rostem Akman (un. dec.)
Light Heavyweight
Carlos Ulberg (-244)
Record: 5-0 (UFC debut) |Age: 30
Height: 6-4 | Reach: 77″
Wins: 2 KO | Losses: n/a
Recent fights: def. Bruno Oliveira (R1 KO); def. John Martin Fraser (un. dec.); def. Kaota Puna (R1 TKO)
Kennedy Nzechukwu (+196)
Record: 7-1 (1-1 UFC) |Age: 28
Height: 6-5 | Reach: 83″
Wins: 4 KO | Losses: 1 SUB
Recent fights: def. Darko Stosic (un. dec.); L to Paul Craig (R3 triangle); def. Dennis Bryant (R1 TKO)
Flyweight
Tim Elliott (+103)
Record: 16-11-1 (5-9 UFC) |Age: 34
Height: 5-7 | Reach: 67″
Wins: 3 KO, 6 SUB | Losses: 1 KO, 5 SUB
Recent fights: def. Ryan Benoit (un. dec.); L Brandon Royval (R2 arm triangle); L to Askar Askarov (un. dec.)
Jordan Espinosa (-127)
Record: 15-8, 1 NC (2-3 UFC) |Age: 31
Height: 5-6 | Reach: 69″
Wins: 2 KO, 7 SUB | Losses: 4 SUB
Recent fights: L to David Dvorak (un. dec.); def. Mark De La Rosa (un. dec.); L to Alex Perez (R1 arm triangle)
Flyweight
Kai Kara-France (-139)
Record: 21-9, 1 NC (4-2 UFC) |Age: 27
Height: 5-4 | Reach: 66.5″
Wins: 9 KO, 3 SUB | Losses: 2 KO, 3 SUB
Recent fights: L to Brandon Royval (R2 guillotine); def. Tyson Nam (un. dec.); L to Brandon Moreno (un. dec.)
Rogerio Bontorin (+114)
Record: 16-2, 1 NC (2-1 UFC) |Age: 28
Height: 5-5 | Reach: 67″
Wins: 3 KO, 11 SUB | Losses: 1 SUB
Recent fights: L to Ray Borg (un. dec.); def. Raulian Paiva (R1 TKO); def. Magomed Bibulatov (split dec.)
Flyweight
Joseph Benavidez (+107)
Record: 28-7 (15-5 UFC) |Age: 36
Height: 5-4 | Reach: 65″
Wins: 8 KO, 9 SUB | Losses: 2 KO, 1 SUB
Recent fights: L to Deiveson Figueiredo (R1 RNC); L to Deiveson Figueiredo (R2 TKO); def. Jussier Formiga (R2 TKO)
Askar Askarov (-131)
Record: 13-0-1 (2-0-1 UFC) |Age: 28
Height: 5-6 | Reach: 67″
Wins: 3 KO, 7 SUB | Losses: n/a
Recent fights: def. Alexandre Pantoja (un. dec.); def. Tim Elliott (un. dec.); Draw with Brandon Moreno (split dec.)
Bantamweight
Kyler Phillips (+126)
Record: 8-1 (2-0 UFC) |Age: 25
Height: 5-8 | Reach: 70.5″
Wins: 5 KO, 1 SUB | Losses: 1 DEC
Recent fights: def. Cameron Else (R2 TKO); def. Gabriel Silva (un. dec.); def. Emeka Ifekandu (R1 TKO)
Song Yadong (-152)
Record: 16-4-1, 1 NC (5-0-1 UFC) |Age: 23
Height: 5-8 | Reach: 67″
Wins: 6 KO, 3 SUB | Losses: 1 KO
Recent fights: def. Marlon Vera (un. dec.); Draw with Cody Stamann (maj. dec.); def. Alejandro Perez (R1 KO)
Bantamweight
Dominick Cruz (+111)
Record: 22-3 (5-2 UFC) |Age: 35
Height: 5-8 | Reach: 68″
Wins: 7 KO, 1 SUB | Losses: 1 KO, 1 SUB
Recent fights: L to Henry Cejudo (R2 TKO); L to Cody Garbrandt (un. dec.); def. Urijah Faber (un. dec.)
Casey Kenney (-137)
Record: 16-2-1 (5-1 UFC) |Age: 29
Height: 5-7 | Reach: 68″
Wins: 2 KO, 5 SUB | Losses: 2 DEC
Recent fights: def. Nathaniel Wood (un. dec.); def. Heili Alateng (un. dec.); def. Louis Smolka (R1 guillotine)
Light Heavyweight
Thiago Santos (+131)
Record: 21-8 (13-7 UFC) |Age: 37
Height: 6-2 | Reach: 76″
Wins: 15 KO, 1 SUB | Losses: 3 KO, 3 SUB
Recent fights: L to Glover Teixeira (R3 RNC); L to Jon Jones (split dec.); def. Jan Blachowicz (R3 TKO)
Aleksandar Rakic (-159)
Record: 13-2 (5-1 UFC) |Age: 29
Height: 6-4 | Reach: 78″
Wins: 9 KO, 1 SUB | Losses: 1 SUB
Recent fights: def. Anthony Smith (un. dec.); L to Volkan Oezdemir (split dec.); def. Jimi Manuwa (R1 KO)
Lightweight
Islam Makhachev (-350)
Record: 18-1 (7-1 UFC) |Age: 29
Height: 5-10 | Reach: 70.5″
Wins: 3 KO, 7 SUB | Losses: 1 KO
Recent fights: def. Davi Ramos (un. dec.); def. Arman Tsarukyan (un. dec.); def. Kajan Johnson (R1 armbar)
Drew Dober (+269)
Record: 23-9, 1 NC (9-5 UFC) |Age: 32
Height: 5-8 | Reach: 70″
Wins: 7 KO, 9 SUB | Losses: 1 KO, 3 SUB
Recent fights: def. Alexander Hernandez (R2 TKO); def. Nasrat Haqparast (R1 TKO); def. Polo Reyes (R1 KO)
Bantamweight Championship
Petr Yan (-113)
Record: 15-1 (7-0 UFC) |Age: 28
Height: 5-7 | Reach: 67″
Wins: 7 KO, 1 SUB | Losses: 1 DEC
Recent fights: def. Jose Aldo (R5 TKO); def. Urijah Faber (R3 KO); def. Jimmie Rivera (un. dec.)
Aljamain Sterling (-109)
Record: 19-3 (11-3 UFC) |Age: 31
Height: 5-7 | Reach: 71″
Wins: 2 KO, 8 SUB | Losses: 1 KO
Recent fights: def. Cory Sandhagen (R1 RNC); def. Pedro Munhoz (un. dec.); def. Jimmie Rivera (un. dec.)
Women’s Featherweight Championship
Amanda Nunes (-1157)
Record: 20-4 (13-1 UFC) |Age: 32
Height: 5-8 | Reach: 69″
Wins: 13 KO, 3 SUB | Losses: 2 KO, 1 SUB
Recent fights: def. Felicia Spencer (un. dec.); def. Germaine de Randamie (un. dec.); def. Holly Holm (R1 TKO)
Megan Anderson (+686)
Record: 10-4 (3-2 UFC) | Age: 31
Height: 6-0 | Reach: 72″
Wins: 6 KO, 3 SUB | Losses: 2 SUB
Recent fights: def. Norma Dumont (R1 KO); def. Zarah Fairn (R1 triangle); L to Felicia Spencer (R1 RNC)
Light Heavyweight Championship
Jan Blachowicz (+188)
Record: 27-8 (10-5 UFC) |Age: 38
Height: 6-2 | Reach: 78″
Wins: 8 KO, 9 SUB | Losses: 2 KO, 1 SUB
Recent fights: def. Dominick Reyes (R2 TKO); def. Corey Anderson (R1 KO); def. Ronaldo Souza (split dec.)
Israel Adesanya (-234)
Record: 20-0 (9-0 UFC) |Age: 31
Height: 6-4 | Reach: 80″
Wins: 15 KO | Losses: n/a
Recent fights: def. Paulo Costa (R2 TKO); def. Yoel Romero (un. dec.); def. Robert Whittaker (R2 KO)
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